Check-punching device



Aug. 21, 1923. 1,465,531

W. S. SMITH ET AL CHECK PUNCHING'DEVICE Filed March 22, 1922 reame Aug; 21, 192s.

' SAUL SMITH AND FREDERIC SLAYTON WILL f *vf S, OF PHILADELPHIA,

PSYLVA f canon-nomma@ DEVICE.

Application :Bled March 22, 1922. Serial No. 545,655.

To all whom t may Gomera:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM SAUL SMITH and FREDERIC S. WILLIAMS, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of Philadelphia, county of Philadel- State of Pennsylvania,r-haveinventedphi an mprovement in Check-Punching Devices, of which the following is a specification.

Th'e'ebject 'Qi our invention is'to provide means adapted' for perforating a bank check or its equivalent having certain limiting numbers thereon whereby certain of the numbers may be punched out for providing permanent indlcations of a limiting character upon the check or its equivalent, the construction being eective, simple, inex nsive and convenient.

he perforating device comprises a punch member, a die member, and a stripper member, the latter being of spring metal and adapted to permit thenumbered end of the check to be received between it and the punch member also permitting adjustment so that the number to be punched may be seen through the aperture in the die member to insure proper positioning; and the said die member and stripper member simultaneously depressed with the check or paper sheet to be punched between them so as to forcibly punch out the sheet and thereafter to strip the sheet from the Punch while holding it between the stripper and die member for permitting a further adjustment thereof and a repetition of the punching operation.

More specifically considering the perforatin means, it is adapted to be removably c amped to the cover of a bound 4*@ volume of checks or their equivalent and provided with spring means for gripping said cover, so that when the checks or sheets of the book have been all detached and used, the punching device itself may be detached '45 and positioned upon a duplicate book.

In the specific form of the punching device, it comprises a U shaped metal frame, one part havin a. punch aperture and constituting the ie member, said U shaped 59 frame combined with a rigid plate secured to the die member adjacent to the bend thereof and provided with an upwardly extending punch in alinement wlth the hole in the die member, whereby 1t cooperates for unching a hole in the paper sheet; and furt er provided with a curved strip er lplate also secured to the die member a jacent to its bend and arranged between the punch and the die member and having therein a hole for permitting the passage of the unch when cooperating with the die mem er, the said plate carrying the punch and the plate member formed as a continuation from the bend of the die member constituting clamping jaws between which the cover of the check book is received and clamped.

' Our invention will be better understood by reference to the drawings, in which: Fig.

1 is a plan view of an open check book illustrating the construction of the check and its association with the perforating means; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the punch and die portion of the perforating means when removed from the cover of the check book.

2 represents the cover portion of a check book and 8 illustrates a package of checks, one of which, in preferred form, s shown with all of the word-s and markings thereon,

.hand end 4 of the check contains `the signature and the place for the figures designat .ing the amount for which the check is made out, and further, the main part of the check is, as usual, comprised of the name of the bank, the number of the check, the place for the name of the payee, and the line for the written designation of the amount. At the left hand end of the check is arranged a. plurality of vertical rows of figures, said rows each comprising figures l of one denomination, respectively from 0 to 9, inclusive, as clearly shown at 22. @ther desi ations or printed matter maybe employe as indicated at 23 and 24.

Referring now to the unchin devices 9 for perforating the num ers of t e vertical rows of figures 22, the same consists of a plate bent into U form at 11 to comprise a lower member 10 and an upper punch plate member 12 havingv therein a die aperture 14 and a forwardly (projecting nose ortion 13 for properly gui the check 4being shown as attached to the" ing the check s eet 3.

The member l2 is further provided with a. depression i5 immediately back of the end 13 and aperture 'ld therein, to constitute a finger receiving part for insuring proper pressure upon the punch plate. The punch plate is bent upward and is weakened at 2l by removed of part of the metal for its transverse width, so as to give more clesticity to the plate and less resistance to its operation. in addition to the members l0 and l2 thus described, there is e base plate 16 having thereon an upwardly projecting punch l? adapted to be received in aperture le of the punch plete when the seme is depressed, and seid plete ld at its other one. is secured to the punch member 12 adjacent to the bend ll by means or rivets 20. The plate 16, furthermore, is supported et a distance from the member 10 at the bend l so as to permit the reception of the cover 2 ci the book, and the member l0 normally presses egeinst the plate 16, as indicated in Fig. 3 and thereore acts es spring` clamp upon the cover of the checlr book when inserted es indiceted in Figs. l

and 2. lin addition to the plates thus described, there is provided a stripper plete 18 which is of spring metal and bent into a curved orin, as indicated. in Fig. 2, one

f end of the seid stripper pla-te being provided with an aperture 19 which permits the pss t sage of the punch i7 when the presser plate l2 is depressed in the punching opere/tion and the other end ot the stripper is secured in position between the plate lo and the member 12 by means oi the aforesaid rivets 20, sil ot which will be clearly understood by reference to Fig., 2. lt will be further observed that the iforvvard end of the stripper plate 18 projects beyond the end 13 or1 the punch plate i2, so as to provide a guiding surface between the said plates i8 and 13 for the cosy insertion of the check and positioning thereoi3 to insure the proper numbers being; punched out. it will elso be seen that es the member 13 und the stripper plate 18 normally are in close relation, the check is properly guided between them end held ciose to the aperture M in the punch plate; and when the said punch plate is depressed., its pressure upon the check strip clamps it upon the stripper plate 18 to insure the check against shitting when the ,punching operation in connection with the punch 17 taires place. As soon es the hole is punched, the removal of the pressure upon the punch plate causes it to rise .end the stripper plate also rises 'under its own elasticity and strips the checlr 'from the unch. The pressure upon the checlr is there y removed end the checlc muy be shifted to position jfor the punching oi the next hole. lt virili orso be seen that es the punching of the peper Jfrom the check is done in an upvvardiy direction, the number to be punched out may be readily viewed through the aperture le for rapid and accurate operation in punching, and :moreover7 the punched out paper trees itself from the punch mechanism and thereby keeps it in good operative condition.

in utilizing this invention after the `check has been lilled out in the usual Way, it is detached along the line 8 and thereafter is inserted betvveenthc end 13 of the punch member i2 and the platev 18 end shiited to the position to bring the numbers of the lirst column corresponding to the thousands in line with the .aperture 14C of the punch plate und thereupon the said plate is depressed to punch out the number correspondin to said thousand designation in the check. lf there is no thousand in the amount, then a zero in that column is punched out. Next the check is shifted to bring the right number of the second column under the opening in the punch plate to correspond to the hun.- dred designation in the check andthe same is punched es before. rlhis operation is repeated in respect to the tens end the dollars corresponding to the check, said punchings being in the third and fourth columns respectively. lt will then be seen that the amount may lbe read in the normal manner from left to right and should correspond to the amount of the check as drawn. 0f course, it will be understood thst Where the amount of dollars in the checlr extends only to the digits or to amounts less than the thousand column, such columns as designate the higher values should be punched in their Zero marks to prevent raising of the value oi the check.

While our invention is specially intended for preventing the raising of checks employed in bsnlring business, ive do not restrict ourselves to that particular class of evidences or obligation or payment thereof,

- as the improvement `vvill apply to any form such as drafts, notes, etc.. wherein a specific amount involved is specified and which' it is desirable shell not be capable of being raised.

lt Willn-ovv be apparent that We have devised s novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable, and While We have in the present instance shown and dgscribed the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that we do not restrict ourselves to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars `Without departing from the spirit or scope or" the invention.

Havingthus described our invention, what We claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A punching means adapted for being secured to the bound volume end comprising 4the punchand its distant end connected to the punch carrying plate at its end most distant from the punch, and a punch plate above the stripper plate and having at one end a punching aperture in alinement with the punch and its other end also connected with the punch carrying late at its end most distant from the punc said punching means provided with a spring clamping plate having one end free and arranged under the punch and its other end connected to the punch carrying plate at its end most distant from the punch, and between which and the punch supporting. plate a portion of the bound volume is clamped.

2. In a unching device of the character stated, a s eet plate bent into U shape to provide a clamping plate member and 'a punch` plate member, the latter having a punching aperture, combined with a punch and a supporting plate therefor, said plate at its end most distant from the punch secured to the punch plate member adjacent to its connection with the clamping plate member and providing with said clampin plate member a spring jaw for detachable attachment to a cover of a check or other book, anda spring stripper plate arranged between the punch' supportlng plate and punch plate member and secured at its end to the latter adjacent to its connection with the punch supporting plate.

3. The invention according to claim 2,' wherein further ther punch plate member is provided with a depression portion in its upper part adjacent to the punch aperture for receiving the tip of the finger to concentrate the pressure upon the plate in the act of the punching operation 4. The invention according to claim 2, wherein the stripper plate is curved downward at its free end to contact with the punch supporting plate and form with the end of the punch plate member a receiving jaw for the paper sheet to be positioned between the punch plate member and stripper and be guided thereby above the punch.

5. In a device of the character stated, means for punching a paper sheet comprisving plate members in substantially' arallel relation and connected at one end o constitute a 'spring jaw for detachable attachment to the cover of a check book or other holder of checks or the like, one of which plate members is provided with an upwardly extending punch adjacent to its free end, combined with a punch plate member having resiliency androne end united to the first mentioned plate members adjacent to their connected ends and having the other end provided with a punch aperture immediately above thef punch, and a spring stripper plate having at one end an opening in alinement with the punch and arranged in yielding relationwith the punch plate member and also arranged between said member andthe punch and having its free end bent downward away from the punch plate member to provide a guiding channel for receiving the paper to be punched, said stripper plate having its end most distant from its opening secured to the punch plate and punch carrying member adjacent to their connected ends and acting in conjunction with the punch plate member to sustain 'the paper to be punched clear of the punch and permit of its attachment and positioning by observation through the open aperture of the punch plate member, and wherein further a pressure upon the punch plate member acts to positively clamp the paper upon the stripper plate and thence carrying the paper below the punching edge of the punch while in clamped relation.

6. The invention according to claim 5, wherein further, the downwardly bent end of the stripper plate rests upon the punch carrying plate member, so as to provide an arch shaped plate spring supported at both en s.

AIn testimony of which invention, we hereunto set our hands.

WILLIAM SAUL SMITH. FREDERIC SLAYTON WILLIAMS. 

